1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to accessories for music instruments; particularly, a guitar pick.
2. Description of Related Art
Guitar picks can vary tremendously. Finding the right pick is sometimes like finding the perfect guitar—you have to try a lot of them until you find just the right one. Prior patents elaborate on a a variety of plectrums currently being manufactured coupled with the use of several types of resilient materials . . . including plastic. Interestingly, for many guitarist, the ultimate pick material might very well be tortoise shell, but this type of structure composition is no longer available. Today, more widely used materials incorporates a hybrid of varying degrees of nitrocellulose and camphor, Delrex, poly carbonate as well as nylon. Nevertheless, an ideal composition remain an individual preference.
Professional guitarist alike would agree that a plectrum is a very an important choice when considering playability. Some players go so far as to say that a pick has the biggest impact on both tone as well as technique. In particular, striking strings sets the audio signal in motion.
With this in mind, playing in a linear single-note legato fashion . . . minimizes the crisp attack that maybe heavier picks impart. Upstroke ghost notes . . . to rhythm, a thinner pick provides a more ethereal subtlety or keeps a battery of eighth-notes going in order to build tension. That said, regardless of the genre of music played, a pick provides an essential tonal foundation.
Indeed, companies like Fender, Dunlop, D'Andrea and Ernie Ball have been around for decades. Newer companies are emerging that include Dava, Red Bear Trading, Clayton, V-Picks, Wegen, JB, Blue Chip, Golden Gate, Pick Boy, Wedgie and more. Generalizations about technique and materials are plentiful. By and large, most electric guitarists use some form of plastic or nylon. Luigi D'Andrea first began making guitar picks from cellulose acetate back in 1922. To this day it has remained one of the standard materials for guitar picks. Along the same lines, Ernie Ball's standard line of Cellulose Acetate Nitrate picks are also common place. Some pick purists swear by Dunlop's Tortex line which is made from plastics to emulate properties found in a turtle shell . . . . In other cases, polymerized animal protein has been known to simulate the same. Likewise, nylon picks have been used by many including Jimmy Page, Dave Gilmour, and Gene Simmons. Nylon arguably has a brighter sound and also has more flexibility than comparable thick plastic picks. So looking back, nylon may appeal to players who's aim includes a more vintage sound as they seem less suited to the kind of compressed tone and tight rhythm phrasing that modern rock gravitates towards.
Indeed, a thinner gauge tends to be more flexible and produces a wide range of sounds from soft to loud, but also produces a click that emphasizes the attack of the pick. On the other hand, a heavier (thicker material gauge) pick will tend to produce a brighter tone.
Meanwhile, exotic materials can produce aesthetically beautiful alternative tones.
These guitar picks may include: lignum vitae wood, zebrawood, walnut, bubinga and gemstones. In general, the harder and denser the material, the more crisp and cutting the resulting sound.
Examples of conventional finger picks for playing stringed musical instruments may be seen by referring to one or more of the following United States patents:                U.S. Pat. No. 1,547,560 Burdwise July 1925; U.S. Pat. No. 1,787,136 Beauchamp December 1930; U.S. Pat. No. 201,648 Kealoha October 1935; U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,169 Bowers May 1969; U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,681 Dunlop June 1973 U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,663 Cowell May 1973; U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,234 Brundage July 1978; U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,433 Adamec June 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,341 Dunlop April 1996        
Whatever guitar material that is used, a thinner pick (somewhere between 0.40 and 0.65 mm) is likely to use standard materials like Delrin and nylon—which will generally have a lighter sound and theoretically works better for acoustic strumming where a more trembly tone is desired. These materials are also great for acoustic guitar zing sound that is useful in rock, pop, and country recordings for filling in a midrange and helping to define rhythms. Conversely, thin picks make little sense for rock rhythm guitars or lead; as they deliver very little bass or midrange tone and simply lack the heft necessary to bring out a well-rounded tone on single-note leads. For that, a step up to a medium gauge pick is warranted material thickness generally in the range of 0.60 to 0.80 mm. A medium gauge remains the most popular thickness because it's the perfect combination of stiffness and flexibility for rock rhythm in addition to full bodied acoustic accompaniment (especially in solo situations). What's more, thicknesses ranging from 0.70 mm-0.99 will have enough heft to produce powerful tones on leads and hook figures. In all, medium picks tend to produce a good blend of high-end and lower mid-range thump, without being too shrill.
Finally, for heavier sounds . . . a material gauge ranging from 1.05 mm-1.35 mm works well while still flexible enough to crunch rhythms and at the same time firm enough for full-bodied chord arpeggios and fat lead lines. It's noteworthy just how much one's tone changes in switching from a medium to a thick pick. At the thicker end, somewhere between 1.5 to 2.5 is an ideal thickness for bebop and jazz—sounds that are increasingly mellow and burnished.
Electric players who want more precision and control will gravitate toward heavier picks with a pointier tip.
Although it's probably one of the most overlooked aspects of a pick selection . . . (given tone, playability, velocity), from a tonal perspective, the texture of a guitar pick is very important as well. Many pick designs including Dunlop's traditional nylon and max grip picks are intended to help maintain a better hold.
Finally, a picks characteristics are associated with the style of music being played. Ultimately, an acoustic chord strummer will generally want to use a thin pick, probably one made of cellulose, delrin, or imitation tortoiseshell. Acoustic flat-pickers like to play music in a more intricate style and while playing single note lines. Electric rock players certainly favor medium to heavy gauge picks with a sharp tip. Classic and rock players typically use nylon or cellulose, while metal and grunge aficionados steer toward delrin or acrylic. As mentioned, regardless of genre, if accuracy and precision are important, a hard pick is preferred.